This is the project status post for The Door Into Starlight, the fourth and final novel in the main Middle Kingdoms character continuity.

News about developments in the project will be posted here as events warrant.

(Please note that if you bookmarked this page before September 1, 2018 — meaning previous to the server failure that scrambled this website’s earlier version — then you’ve been redirected here. Since this page’s URL has changed, don’t forget to re-bookmark it.)

Background: The initial 2011 discussion of the considerations surrounding DD starting work on the fourth book is here at DD’s blog “Out of Ambit.”

  • DD says: “Having had a good many months to consider the (fairly positive) response to [the post at Out of Ambit], and (finally) being at a point in my general work schedule where it’s realistic to start moving forward, The Door Into Starlight is now formally on my work schedule for 2018. Please note that I will from this point on be making only the most general statements about progress — don’t expect word counts or bar graphs. And I will not discuss any publication dates until I have a completed first draft in hand and have had time to talk to my agent about where to go next. So wish me luck… if there is any such thing.” 🙂

Present status (as of August 2023): Chapters are being drafted from the revised outline. (Yeah, not much apparent change in the status here. In fact, this is probably what this entry will look like until I can honestly say “I have a completed first draft.” I refuse to get people excited for no significant reason when there are other more important things to be paying attention to. Like pandemics and such.) :/

New Middle Kingdoms material available online: DD has begun a series of novelettes and novellas dealing with events in the lives of the five core characters of the Tale of the Five in the period between The Door Into Sunset and The Door Into Starlight. The first two works, Tales of the Five #1: The Levin-Gad and Tales of the Five #2: The Landlady are now available at Ebooks Direct.

Project meta, website meta, and other associated business:

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Thanks for your interest!